DRAFT Game Schedules and Brackets for the SSUSA's 2018 Spring National Championships in Polk County, FL, have been posted and are available from the links below and on the event's Tournament page ... As always, these DRAFT schedules are TENTATIVE, are subject to change and become final ONLY when released as "OFFICIAL" at the Manager's meeting before play commences ...

NOTE: Managers who do NOT attend the Manager meeting will be presumed to be fully informed on ALL matters (such as schedule changes, tourney formats and rules issues) discussed at the meeting. Tournament rosters are frozen as of the Managers Meeting. NO on-site player additions are allowed, as all roster changes were previously approved through the Sacramento home office ... Managers who do not attend the Manager Meeting, and do not send a representative, will be prohibited from beginning tournament play before check-in with Field Director.

The Participating Teams List and Master Games & Fields Grid have also been posted ... Good luck to all! ...

Tournament Administration (PDF's)

We may not understand your question "..Why is a player not allowed to continue to play on a team that he played with in his own age group, when that team did not move up??.." ... By "did not move up", do you mean [1] in age or [2] in rating or [3] both? ... You can always play younger if your team stays in the younger group ... You complicate things if you are playing on multiple teams with potentially different ratings and/or ages ... Is that the case? ...

Regardless, the rating history of the team(s) you play with defines your eligibility for other teams ... So, NOPE, our statement that SSUSA does NOT rate individual players remains accurate ... Our only logical conclusion based on what you have typed is that you would rather play down in rating, despite your history ... You are always welcome to call the Sacramento Home Office at (916) 326.5303 and ask for one of the eligibility specialists ... Be prepared to discuss this circumstance as to the actual player (you) and the team(s) involved ... They won't be able to help you on an anonymous basis ... Good luck!

tugboat ... Here's our view on your fundamental question, an answer that is certainly accurate, but not likely what you are hoping to see ... Also, to get this up front, we differ somewhat on the concept of you being "forced" to do anything ... Your team appears to have earned the privilege of playing at a higher rating level based on the team's performance over time ... The choice is solely yours as to whether you wish to continue playing with them at that level, or seek an apparently lower level you would prefer, initially as one of the three allowable "out of rating" players on that new-to-you team ... You take your former team's rating history experience with you for two years ...

REMEMBER: SSUSA does NOT rate individual players, never has ... We simply maintain historical data on the ratings of the team(s) you play with and their rating(s) when you do ... Softball is a team sport and the rating fortunes of the teams, and therefore, its players, rise and fall collectively, not individually ... This concept is to protect the LOWER rated teams in the competitive environment ... You have total freedom of choice to affiliate with any team for which you are otherwise eligible as to residency and your team rating experience history ... Respectfully, your reluctance to move up to continue playing with your current team does not constitute SSUSA forcing you to do so ... Good luck!

cyborg ... The Major+ "out of region" provisions apply only to Men's Major+ teams in the 40-Masters through 70+ age Divisions ... The 75+ Division already has the East/West of the Mississippi River roster composition criteria ... You may not play "across the River" at age 75, and may not do so as a 70+ player wishing to join any team, 70+ OR 75+ unless your state borders the Mississippi River ... Florida does not ...

MINOR REVISION  70+ DIVISION @ THE CANYONS  There was one late entrant today (Top Gun Patriots - CA) in the 70-Major Division ... This required changes (Rev. date: 03/07/2018) to the seeding and brackets in that division and one nominal game field change on Tuesday in the Men's 70-Silver seeding ... All changes are online (but you may have to refresh your download file) ... Good luck!

DRAFT Game Schedules and Brackets for the SSUSA's Spring World Championships in Mesquite, NV, and St. George, UT, have been posted and are available from the links below and on the event's Tournament page ... As always, these DRAFT schedules are TENTATIVE, are subject to change and become final ONLY when released as "OFFICIAL" at the Manager's meeting before play commences ...

NOTE: Managers who do NOT attend the Manager meeting will be presumed to be fully informed on ALL matters (such as schedule changes, tourney formats and rules issues) discussed at the meeting. Tournament rosters are frozen as of the Managers Meeting. NO on-site player additions are allowed, as all roster changes were previously approved through the Sacramento home office ... Managers who do not attend the Manager Meeting, and do not send a representative, will be prohibited from beginning tournament play before check-in with Field Director.

TIME ZONE NOTE: The Canyons Complex in St. George is on MOUNTAIN TIME and Hunter Park and Pioneer Park in Mesquite are on PACIFIC TIME ... All schedules and brackets are stated to LOCAL TIME at the facility (just like airline schedules!) ... HINT: Trust your cell phone for accurate time where you are!

The Participating Teams List and Master Games & Fields Grid have also been posted ... Good luck to all! ...

Tournament Administration (PDF's)

To answer your two questions: [1] The T.O.C. qualifier events are the major regional championships administered directly by the Sacramento Home Office of SSUSA ... They also include the Eastern & Western National Championships and the LVSSA/SSUSA World Masters Championships, but not the T.O.C. itself ... [2] Until any metropolitan area (or entity) other than El Paso expresses an interest in hosting the Texas State Championships, the alternatives will be limited, or non-existent ...

grayhitter59 ... Difficult to say as we understand your situation, but it probably wouldn't have played out that way because we wouldn't have had a Miken rep. on site testing a ComBat ... We would have followed the testing procedure we also described above, and would not have been surprised at all if the bat came back "clean" ... We mentioned it above in another post in this thread ...

"..And, yes, a properly broken in bat may sometimes not be in technical compliance with the tester, which is why we send the bat out for an expert's look.."

When a "clean", well-broken in bat gets significantly "out of range" in testing, that's a strong indicator it's probably nearing the end of its functional life ... Which you pretty much confirmed when the bat cracked 10 swings later ... We don't just jump to any hasty conclusions, well, except the one time in Las Vegas where the cap popped off a bat and three tennis balls rolled out of the very-thin barrel! ...

Huh?? ... NO OPINION ever expressed by us until the manufacturer's inspection report is received ... We published the "no problem with the bat" finding last time to counter those who, with 1% knowledge and 99% speculation, rushed to the unfair conclusion that the bat was altered ... It wasn't ...

REVISED TENTATIVE Field Assignments for the 2018 SSUSA Spring World Championships in Mesquite, NV, and St. George, UT ... REMINDER: TENTATIVE means they are NOT FINAL and are SUBJECT TO CHANGE. Final Field Assignments will be released simultaneous with the publication of the DRAFT Game Schedules and Brackets shortly ...

NOTE: changes were made to balance facility loads and to minimize play at the larger field at Hunter Park, where temporary fencing is not permitted on the artificial turf ... Changes and assignments for the "singleton" teams are as follows:
__________

 SilverGhost ... Although applying a foreign substance to the bat is technically illegal per Rulebook §3.4(4), we'd probably let that slide (pun intended) because there would be serious questions about the intelligence of the person making that decision as a performance enhancement! [grins]

 grayhitter59 ... As we understand the process, the manufacturer will test the bat externally and may also professionally remove the cap for internal inspection and measurements, which will resolve almost all of the alteration questions ... Cutting the bat is very rarely required ... If all is good, they will re-apply the cap, send the bat back to us and we will forward it on to the player ... This was exactly what happened as the result of the most recent bat challenge in an SSUSA event ... We also published the "no problem with the bat" verdict on the bat for the owner's reputation benefit ...

 HJ ... We're not sure we agree, without some sort of substantiation on your part that ".. shaving, rolling etc. is rampant in senior softball.." is accurate, and if so, to what degree ... But as to your question that follows your stated opinion, we believe that altering a bat is done solely to gain an unfair performance advantage, and therefore, the answer is probably "yes", regardless of the sanctioning association (ASA) or the bat/ball combination (52/300) in play ...

southerinman and lb16 ... If a bat fails initial field inspection, we will ask the owner to voluntarily surrender the bat to us for further testing by the manufacturer (see NOTE on page 16 of the Rule Book and the immediately following §3.4(6) and 3.4(7) on pages 16-18) ... The penalties for refusing to voluntarily surrender the bat are detailed ... Also, the results of that manufacturer testing will be the basis for either returning the bat or imposing sanctions if it turns out to be altered ... And, yes, a properly broken in bat may sometimes not be in technical compliance with the tester, which is why we send the bat out for an expert's look ...

ballplyer19 ... Nope, SSUSA does NOT rate players ... But we DO keep each player's historical data on the teams he play(ed) with and those team's ratings at the time you did so ... It would be an impossible task to subjectively rate each individual player, but not too difficult to track their team(s) rating histories ...

titanhd ... Yes, we believe all SSUSA originated end-of-year rating changes have been made, and that temporary changes for the T.O.C. have been restated to actual ... However, there are several potential team-originated changes hanging out there ... Those involve teams building rosters for the upcoming Spring World's and Spring National's that just "have to have" their fourth (or more) "out of rating" player(s) ... That's purely a team decision, and not ours! ...

Be very careful, COWBOY JIMMY, in how you proceed/post from here ... SSUSA is VERY adamant on the concept of prohibiting the use of altered bats, and that's not going to change ... To refresh your recall of the two other threads where you have participated as a poster:

 You have publicly admitted to meeting one half of the definition of owning an altered bat by disclosing that some sort of "heat" treatment was applied post-production to the bat ... That is a prohibited activity;
 IF you meet the second half of the definition ("..AND which serves to alter the technical specifications and performance of that bat from what it was immediately after coming off the production line.."), you absolutely own an altered bat;
 We are troubled by your apparent challenge to our bat safety rules because it's OK for your bat since [1] you only found out about it five days ago, [2] you are setting up a "catch me if you can" scenario, and [3] you seem to think it's also OK because you're not a home run hitter ... We do not accept the premise that the user/owner of an altered bat who now has achieved his new-found range of being an "outfield grass" type hitter is any different from the power hitter guy doing the same thing ...

Your "best-case" scenario right now is to discover that some clever bat agent duped you into overpaying for something that does NOT enhance performance ... At least you have the result of being only a salesman's victim rather than being a bat cheater (which, not so coincidentally, is your "worst-case" scenario) ...

We shouldn't have to keep posting this, but here we go again ... Whether or not we will be able to differentiate between a "heat treated" vs. a "normal" bat will likely be difficult ... Apparently, some players appear to believe that it's not cheating (read: using an altered bat) if you don't get caught ... Late last year, we acquired bat testers and they are making random facility appearances at all of our Home Office administered events now ... It's probably wise, and certainly moral and ethical, to leave your altered bats at home so you don't become "that guy" who gets to read about his suspension on the front page in an upcoming issue of the Senior Softball News ...
__________

"..Any activity, other than normal wear and tear through the process of striking a softball with the bat in the manner intended by the manufacturer, AND which serves to alter the technical specifications and performance of that bat from what it was immediately after coming off the production line, is illegal and constitutes altering that bat.." ...
__________

BallPlayer35 ... SAME ADVICE AS ABOVE: There are a lot of variables in your hypothetical situation ... Rather than confuse the matter here, please call the SSUSA Home Office at (916) 326.5303 during normal business hours (Pacific time) and talk with one of the eligibility specialists ... Be prepared to discuss the specific team(s) involved, and they should get you up to speed quickly on your options ... Good luck!

The following are the TENTATIVE Field Assignments for the 2018 Rock 'n Reno Challenge Cup. Please note that TENTATIVE means they are NOT FINAL and are SUBJECT TO CHANGE. Final Field Assignments will be released simultaneous with the publication of the DRAFT Game Schedules and Brackets in mid-May.

The following are the TENTATIVE Field Assignments for the 2018 SSUSA Spring World Championships in Mesquite, NV, and St. George, UT ... Please note that TENTATIVE means they are NOT FINAL and are SUBJECT TO CHANGE. Final Field Assignments will be released simultaneous with the publication of the DRAFT Game Schedules and Brackets shortly ...

ballplyer19 ... There are a lot of variables in your hypothetical situation ... Rather than confuse the matter here, please call the SSUSA Home Office at (916) 326.5303 during normal business hours (Pacific time) and talk with one of the eligibility specialists ... Be prepared to discuss the specific team(s) involved, and they should get you up to speed quickly on your options ... Good luck!

Senior Softball-USA is dedicated to informing and uniting the Senior Softball Players of America and the World. Senior Softball-USA sanctions tournaments and championships, registers players, writes the rulebook, publishes Senior Softball-USA News, hosts international softball tours and promotes Senior Softball throughout the world. More than 1.5 million men and women over 40 play Senior Softball in the United States today.
»SSUSA History
»Privacy policy